Uta Hagen: Object Exercises

Congratulations on enrolling in Uta Hagen: Object Exercises

Thank you for committing to technique-driven training and for bringing your energy and enthusiasm to The Studio by enrolling in the Uta Hagen Object Exercises class. Below you will find important information that will help you prepare for and make the most of the course, so please read everything carefully.

COURSE DATES AND CLASS TIMES

For more information on course dates and times please refer to the Classes page.

Participants will be expected to complete 1 – 2 hours of preparation and homework outside of class hours each week.

PRECOURSE HOMEWORK

For the first class, students must prepare the First Exercise: Physical Destination. Please note that for this exercise, you will be expected to recreate a space from your own house that you frequently inhabit, i.e. bedroom, kitchen, etc. You will be able to use furniture provided by The Studio to ‘create place’, but you will be expected to bring in personal items and props in order to dress your set to accurately perform the exercise, i.e. books from your desk, clothing, photo frames, ornaments from your shelves etc.

Students who have already completed the Foundation course should prepare the Physical Destination Exercise, combined with exercise #2, #3A, #3B, #4, #5A or #5B. A reminder that this shouldn’t involve any kind of crisis.

Copies of Hagen’s book are available for purchase at the studio for $35 (cash only) but please contact us first to see if there are any copies available. The book is also available for purchase from online retailers such as The Book Depository and Amazon. Students must also have watched Uta Hagen’s ‘Acting Class’ DVD, in which each exercise is demonstrated. The DVD can be purchased online from Amazon, or students can attend a screening at The Studio shortly before class commences (date TBA).

PREPARATION NOTES FROM MARILYN MCINTYRE

Please find below some notes and linked documents from Marilyn that will assist in your preparation and rehearsal of exercises for class:

Read Uta Hagen’s A CHALLENGE FOR THE ACTOR, and re-read “Part Three: The Exercises”, paying particular attention to the “Introduction to the Exercises”, and then “#1- Physical Destination” and “#2- Fourth Side” prior to the first class meeting. Once you have read Uta’s chapters on the exercises, and then study the 2 documents I have composed to help clarify the first two exercises. #1- Physical Destination (click here), and #2- Fourth Side (click here). This is imperative for everyone taking this class. If you haven’t done the Foundation course, please start with putting up “#1: Physical Destination”. Anyone who has done Foundation can combine #1 & #2, or bring in “#3: Changes of Self (Part I)” or “#4: Moment-to-Moment”. It’s also fine to simply start with #1 no matter what you’ve done previously. Physical Destination is at the heart of everything. You can never go wrong by revisiting the basics.

You will bring personal items to most of the classes until you get to Exercises #6 and #7, and then you’ll have different requirements. The running order of the exercises will be determined, as always, by the set-ups. Please arrive to class at least 15 minutes early so the stage manager can have floor plans and a running order organised so the first exercise is set up and ready to go on time. Please rehearse two different times. The first being a few days prior to class, and then the second time the day before class. Each rehearsal should be at least one hour or 10 times through, whichever comes first is fine. Set up everything, and run it straight through. Most of the exercises should only be about 3 minutes. The later ones can be a bit longer, say 4-5 minutes tops. Please time them. Do not rush anything to fit it in – simply end it or make an exit, whatever will work for the exercise. If you find it difficult to rehearse two different times for a full hour, then the second one can be shorter, say 30 minutes. But at least one rehearsal should be a solid hour with no interruptions. Please do not skimp on rehearsal. It always shows when you’re not prepared. And, yes, you’ll often do exercises 2 or 3 times in the class, and sometimes I send you home to do the same exercise again (repeating the exercise, but not what you did. It’ll be new circumstances.)

As an actor, I love doing these exercises. As you may know, you can see me doing Exercise #10: Historical Imagination on the DVD “Uta Hagen’s Acting Class”. I’m playing Charlotta from Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard. Because Uta was an actress, she was always looking for ways to keep her instrument tuned between acting jobs. She came up with these practical exercises over several years. They provide a way to always be ready for any kind of opportunity to do your work, whether it’s onstage, on-camera or even an audition. Actors forget that auditions are an opportunity to do the work. In fact, that’s always what you should be focusing on when you’re auditioning, and not the actual audition. How do you remain present in the “here & now”, grounded in time & place, living truthfully in the imaginary circumstances. As you know, it always starts with you. Your own, personal homework is essential, and will continue throughout the 5 weeks that the class meets. Take notes during class and when you’re doing your homework. Effective and productive homework is a must and is certainly expected when working professionally. I look forward to seeing you in class.

Marilyn McIntyre

Email: Marilyn.mcintyre@me.com

STUDIO INFORMATION PACK

There are various procedures and guidelines in place here at The Studio in relation to the space and how to utilize it so everyone can enjoy a clean and safe working environment. Please read the Studio Information Pack, which includes information on our refund policy, kitchen use, rehearsal space hire, parking and public transport, etc. This will hopefully answer a lot of your questions prior to beginning the course. You can access the Studio Information Pack by clicking here.

STAGE MANAGERS AND PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONS

Here at The Studio, we rely on the help of everyone in class to keep things running smoothly. In order to assist with this, one or two students will be performing the role of ‘Stage Managers’ in class. The Stage Managers are your main point of contact for class related issues and their duties include:

Forwarding messages from the tutor to all participants

Sending out homework to participants

Making sure The Studio is neat and tidy at all times.

As a participant in class, we will often request your help in order to assist the Stage Managers. We have outlined some basic expectations we have of everyone taking part in classes at The Studio. These expectations are put in place for the benefit of everyone, and help us to ensure that all classes run as smoothly as possible. Therefore, it is greatly appreciated that you adhere to the following:

Be on time for every class. If, for some reason, you are running late for class, please let your Stage Managers know.

Be prompt in responding to the Stage Managers’ requests, both during and outside of class.

Help the Stage Managers at all times when in The Studio. This will often include helping to tidy up the space at the end of each class, putting furniture away, making sure the kitchen area is clean, arranging the chairs neatly in the space and any other cleaning and tidying that may need to be done. With everyone’s help, this can take a minimal amount of time and goes a long way to helping both the Stage Managers and The Studio.

GET SOCIAL

Our students are the most important part of the HFAS community, and we love to read your updates, whether it's the scene you're working on in class, some fun you had in rehearsals, or which lessons you're loving. 'Check in' at The Studio, tag us, and use the hashtag #HFAS. We love to hear from our students! You can follow us on social media via the links below (it's also a great way to keep up to date with Studio news!

OTHER THINGS THAT MAY TAKE YOUR INTEREST

You might like to join our Facebook group, where you can discuss, and share with the HFAS community.

Get to know your tutor, Marilyn McIntyre a little more before class commences. Marilyn’s website has updates regarding what she's currently up to, photos and videos of some of her past work and lots of other things you may find interesting. Have a look at what she’s done, and she’s more than happy to answer any questions you may have in class.